DETROIT, Michigan: Ken Roczen won the second race of the 2026 season at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, as Hunter Lawrence and Eli Tomac struggled. With this victory, Roczen is firmly in championship contention with a 14-point gap to the leader.

Chase Sexton secured second in his first race back after suffering an injury in a practice crash prior to Daytona. Sexton continued to get stronger during each session as he climbed his way through the ranks.

Malcolm Stewart secured his first podium of the season one week after getting his first top-five in Birmingham.

Justin Cooper stole a point from Tomac in the closing laps, but Tomac’s fifth-place finish along with Lawrence’s problems gave him the championship lead by four.

Tomac had to fight hard to stay in the top five as Cooper Webb challenged on the white flag lap. Webb crossed under the checkered flag in sixth.

450 Feature Results

In-Race Notes

Jorge Prado has been hot on the gate drop and he earned another holeshot in Detroit.

Meanwhile, Lawrence and Tomac both got poor starts and had to come through the field together.

Roczen stole the lead from Prado on Lap 2, bringing Webb with him.

Webb crashed with Prado and handed second to Sexton.

Incredibly, Lawrence was up to third on Lap 3; Tomac was fifth and gradually losing contact with the points leader. Tomac cannot afford to lose any more ground to Lawrence.

Stewart was the man in the middle of the two points challengers.

Webb settled into eighth. Prado fell to 14th.

Tomac was five seconds behind Lawrence at the halfway mark.

Dylan Ferrandis was in seventh on Lap 7. He was also returning from injury along with Sexton this week.

Lawrence crashed on Lap 10, hurting his bike in the crash. Lawrence had a 12-point lead at the time. Lawrence had not finished worse than fourth all year and was second or better in all but two races.

With the incident, Tomac moved up to fourth in the running. Lawrence was 19th at the time. This would give Tomac the points lead.

Lawrence had to pull into the mechanics area to replace his front wheel.

Roczen was in command of the race on Lap 15.

Tomac didn’t have the pace to fully take advantage of Lawrence’s crash and lost fourth to Cooper on Lap 18.

Roczen finished 7.8 seconds ahead of Sexton.

To the surprise of many of their critics, the Detroit Pistons have fared well since Cade Cunningham suffered a collapsed lung.

With his timetable still uncertain as the regular season enters the final stretch, the Pistons have taken the adversity head-on and have gone 4-1 in the games without Cunningham.

The Pistons’ lone loss came in a 130-129 overtime thriller against the Atlanta Hawks, in which Jalen Duren’s put-back shot in the final seconds came up an inch short.

During Cunningham’s absence, these three Pistons players have stepped up in a major way for Detroit, as they look to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since the 2006-07 season. 

Jalen Duren

A candidate for the NBA’s Most Improved Player of the Year, Jalen Duren, has put together an extraordinary season for the Pistons. In addition to averaging 19.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game for the Pistons, Duren has shown true leadership during Cunningham’s absence. 

In the five games that Cunningham has been absent, Duren has scored 20-plus points in every matchup, including recording four double-doubles. If Cunningham is to return for the Pistons in the postseason, Duren will also play a crucial role in leading Detroit to a deep playoff run.  

Daniss Jenkins

Over the last five games, the Pistons have seen the emergence of guard Daniss Jenkins. What started with an impressive performance in the Pistons’ win over the Golden State Warriors was immediately followed by Jenkins scoring a career-high 30 points in Detroit’s thrilling 113-110 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night. 

The emergence of Daniss Jenkins has been one of the top storylines for the Pistons this season, as last year, Jenkins was averaging only 1.0 points per game in only seven games played. Now, with the Pistons preparing for the postseason with the possibility of not having Cunningham, Jenkins could be an unsung hero for Detroit in the postseason.  

Tobias Harris

The Pistons’ third-leading scorer, Tobias Harris, has also played a key role for Detroit without Cunningham. In the games that Harris has been absent from the Pistons, Harris has scored in double figures in four of those contests. 

In the Pistons’ comeback that fell short against the Hawks in overtime, Harris played a critical role in leading Detroit to force overtime, as he finished the game with 22 points, three rebounds, and three assists, while shooting over 52.9 percent from the field. 

Entering the postseason, Harris’ performance could be a key x-factor in the Pistons’ chances of making a deep playoff run. In the Pistons’ first-round playoff series loss against the New York Knicks last season, Harris averaged 15.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

Both generations on the ice Friday are intent on growing the game for today’s kids. Hartje and the Polar Bears believe an important step for women’s hockey in Michigan would be starting a Division I college team.

“I think if the PWHL establishes a team in Detroit, it will put a lot of pressure on the colleges to make sure there’s a D-I team in the state,” Hartje said. “Michigan has the second-highest number of players in the league, and it would have been a dream for us to be able to stay in the state to play.”

It’s been a problem for decades. Pierson had to turn down the offer from Boston University, because her family couldn’t afford to send her to New England for college. Hartje ended up at Yale University, and Megan Keller, who scored the gold medal winning goal for the U.S. in the 2026 Winter Olympics and plays for the PWHL’s Boston Fleet, went from suburban Detroit to Boston College.

Meanwhile, 2026 U.S. men’s Olympic team members and Michigan natives Dylan Larkin of the Red Wings and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets were able to stay in the state to play with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, then based in Ann Arbor, before moving on to the University of Michigan in the same town.

“Megan’s brother played at Michigan State, and I’m sure she also would have stayed here to play for a Michigan school,” Skarupa said. “It’s imperative that Michigan gets a college program.”

Skarupa is serious about growing the game. She is working with Keller and the NHL Foundation U.S. to identify recipients for its $100,000 Empowerment Grant Program for Girls Hockey.

“Every time I go back to a city, there are new teams, new girls and new faces,” she said. “It’s a testament to growth all over the world, but it is tremendous inside the U.S.”